The Seimas will decide whether he is destined to fulfill the dream taken from G. Landsbergis.
All parties of the ruling coalition have already publicly expressed their support for the candidate proposed by the Prime Minister for the position of European Commissioner. The opposition parties will behave differently – some will not strictly support it, others assure that they will support the decision of President Gitanas Nausėdas to support the candidacy of A. Kubilius.
The extraordinary parliamentary session immediately began with problems. Citizen Jonas Jarutis made a proposal to remove the question of the European Commissioner from the agenda, because the elections of the new Seimas will be held in October, in which, according to him, the current ruling majority will probably not have a victory to celebrate.
“So that it would not be difficult for the European Commissioner to work with the ruling majority, which may have a completely different approach, on behalf of the faction, I propose to remove this issue from the agenda,” said J. Jarutis.
Such a proposal of the peasants lacked support. For their part, the conservatives also had a response. The new leader of their faction, Mindaugas Lingė, asked for a half-hour break for the European Commissioner’s question.
“I would like to ask for a break of half an hour on behalf of the group, since the honorable J. Jarutis has made some thoughts about who should win the Seimas elections, so we need half an hour to assess the prospects”, said M. Lingė, and his words were greeted by loud laughter in the hall.
I. Šimonytė: there are not many politicians of this caliber
After a half-hour break, Prime Minister I. Šimonytė, who presented the candidacy of A. Kubilius at the rostrum, presented several arguments why an experienced political wolf would be an excellent European Commissioner.
“I really won’t talk much about the candidacy itself, because I think you all know the biography of A. Kubilius very well. This is a man who was twice the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania in rather difficult economic times. He never lacked wisdom, determination, or the ability to make decisions. He has great political experience – both Lithuanian and European,” said I. Šimonytė.
According to the Prime Minister, since A. Kubilius has worked as a member of the European Parliament for the last five years, he knows the agenda of the European Union (EU) “not from books, not from newspapers and not from headlines, but from his daily work”.
“There are not many politicians of this caliber from those names that are currently being nominated by other states,” she asserted.
“It is clear that in the opinion of both the Government and the President of the Republic of Lithuania, this is a really appropriate and solid candidacy to apply for the responsible position of European Commissioner and for important responsibilities”, added I.Šimonytė.
A. Kubilius: I am no longer a young man, but I know what such challenges mean
Soon, A. Kubilius himself stepped onto the podium of the Seimas.
“There’s a lot of emotion involved in standing in this rostrum because, counting my life, I’ve probably spent 27 years in this House and in this rostrum. I haven’t been here in a while. Great to see everyone and hear your heated discussions. (…) I thank both the president for his approval and the coalition partners for their support.
It is certainly with great personal responsibility that I accept such a trust. As you know, I am no longer a young man, but I know what such new challenges mean,” the candidate for European Commissioner began his speech.
A. Kubilius said that he cannot yet say exactly what responsibilities he will have to undertake after becoming a member of the European Commission (EC).
“We are discussing this both in Brussels and Vilnius, and it is obvious that it will be decided primarily by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, with whom we have had to communicate several times,” he explained.
According to A. Kubiliaus, U. von der Leyen has her own view of the composition of the Commission and the implementation of the program.
“It is clear that one of the most important work priorities of the new Commission is that it considers issues related to challenges to EU security,” he said.
“We have unique experience in what I would generally call the eastern area of Europe – this is where the greatest threats to the security of the whole of Europe, including Lithuania, are now concentrated. (…) Having served twice as the Prime Minister of Lithuania and deserving the title of Prime Minister of crises, I am not afraid of any work and responsibilities that may arise if I become an EU Commissioner”, asserted A. Kubilius.
Got questions about the meeting with the president and pensions
After the speeches of I.Šimonytė and A.Kubiliaus, the parliamentarians could ask questions to the candidate for European commissioners.
Citizen Dainius Kepenis asked him to self-assess his activity while working in the European Parliament (EP), where the politician is said to be one of the more passive. To this, A. Kubilius replied that there are various evaluations of the activity of the Labor EP, what is evaluated depends on different criteria, so he said that he would not discuss his activity.
“If you read the Ukrainian press more carefully, there I am named as the most active member of the EP, supporting Ukraine, taking care of the entire Eastern European space. I feel that I have done as much as I could in the past five years,” said A. Kubilius.
Seimas member Artūras Skardžius asked how much work EP A. Kubilius had done for the well-being of Lithuania in five years. The MEP said that taking care of Ukraine is directly related to the security of our people.
A. Kubilius also answered A. Skardius’s question about what kind of “political market” should have taken place in the Presidency, that G. Nausėda even decided to support his candidacy, despite A. Kubilius’ sharp criticism towards him.
“As for the president, I didn’t have to convince him. I said after I left the presidency that one thing that surprised me about this whole thing was the president’s support for my candidacy. I do not hide that until now I have been critical of the president’s activities. And the president knows that, and you know that.
The fact that the president supported my candidacy is a surprise to me personally, but in life there are surprises. There was no market, and I would ask you not to use such words”, urged A. Kubilius.
Parliamentarian Agnė Širinskienė returned to the past, asking whether A. Kubilius admits his mistakes during the economic crisis in Lithuania and whether he intends to apologize to the people of Lithuania.
“You haven’t apologized to the president yet, we understand that, but we would still like a critical approach to your past,” A. Širinskienė expressed the request.
“You know, I’m not a young man anymore. I have had experience in political life for, I don’t know, 30 years. Many mistakes were made during that time. I am well aware of those mistakes, but I do not see any big mistakes on our part in overcoming the crisis. I don’t know where you were at that time, I don’t remember if you were in the Seimas, but those who were there remember well what challenges they had to face.
Yes, pensions also had to be reduced, the Constitutional Court later said that it was not necessary to do so, but it has said many things, recognizing the decisions of various Seimas, and when you were in the ruling majority, as wrong and illegal. (…)
I want to remind you that then the salaries of the Government and members of the Seimas were cut significantly more, my own salary, on my own initiative, was cut by 40%, in other words, it was cut much more than the same pensions.
Why was it necessary to reduce pensions? At that time, the financial situation was such that the finances could not sustain the payment of such pensions. Why pensions were so significantly increased before we came to power, without having financial reserves for this, should not be asked of me,” answered A. Kubilius.
Voting on the candidacy of A. Kubilias will take place in the afternoon. If the Seimas approves his candidacy, the politician who is now a member of the European Parliament will still have to pass the Brussels exam.
It is no secret that the conservatives’ first choice for the European Commissioners was to delegate their chairman, Minister of Foreign Affairs G. Landsbergis. However, the head of the country G. Nausėda, who repeated many times that he saw better candidates than the leader of the conservatives, put his foot in his way.
G. Landsbergis made it clear that previous conflicts with the Presidency – the so-called “Phantom of the Opera” scandal – could also have influenced this. For its part, the Presidency not only rejected the accusations of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, but also emphasized that G. Nausėda “saved” the conservative leader from “terrible humiliation”.
According to Frederiks Jansons, the chief advisor of the president, it was almost obvious that not only the opposition, but also the ruling party, did not want to support G. Landsbergis, who applied for the position of European commissioner.
The nomination of the Eurocommissioner is submitted by the Government after the position has been agreed with the President and the Seimas.
2024-09-04 07:07:30